Page 6 - Sheppard Mullin Fall Alumni News Newsletter

• ALUMNI NEWS • FALL 2021
Trout Unlimited – We secured a landmark victory for Trout Unlimited in the Ninth Circuit challenging the EPA’s decision to withdraw Clean Water Act (CWA) restrictions on commercial mining in the Bristol Bay watershed in Alaska. At issue was EPA’s abrupt reversal of a 2014 determination that mining in Bristol Bay would cause unacceptable adverse effects on the area’s ecosystem and one of the world’s most productive salmon fisheries. The EPA withdrew that restriction without considering whether proposed commercial mining operations would cause adverse effects as it had previously concluded. We filed suit in 2019 in Alaska challenging the withdrawal. While the federal district court dismissed the suit, holding that EPA’s decision was discretionary and not subject to judicial review, the Ninth Circuit reversed. With a ground-breaking interpretation of CWA, the Ninth Circuit held CWA provided a judicially reviewable legal standard to assess EPA’s withdrawal decision. In a rare move, following the court’s ruling, EPA moved to vacate its withdrawal determination and have its prior protections for the bay reinstalled because it conceded it had failed to consider whether the withdrawal would cause any adverse environmental impacts Washington DC partner Paul Werner represented TU in this pro bono victory.
Twitter - We acted as lead outside intellectual property licensing counsel to Twitter in connection with the $1.05 billion sale of MoPub to AppLovin Corporation, a leading marketing software company. Del Mar corporate M&A partner Kandace Watson advised Twitter on numerous intellectual property licensing and other issues in connection with the sale and transition services.
NEW ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, GOVERNANCE (ESG) AND SUSTAINABILITY TEAM
Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) has been brewing for a while, and is now hitting the mainstream, driven by collective demand from employees, investors, customers and other stakeholders. All these groups have shifted from a passive to an active stance and are forcing companies to step up to address climate change, social justice and corporate governance. ESG encompasses the standards for how a company operates regarding the planet and its inhabitants. It refers to a company’s commitment to do more than make a profit—to implement responsible commercial practices, actively strive to contribute positively to the environment, embrace equity and social causes, and demonstrate corporate integrity. As market, social, economic and political changes accelerate ESG and sustainability concerns, companies face a rapidly evolving reporting and regulatory landscape that differs significantly across jurisdictions and industries.
To address these issues, Sheppard Mullin recently created a team to assist clients with a broad and diverse range of legal issues associated with ESG and sustainability. Our goal is to deliver high-
quality services and problem-solving to clients and to be a positive force in the communities in which the firm and clients work and live, and throughout their respective value chains. Our integrated approach to ESG and sustainability incorporates nine overlapping and mutually reinforcing areas of practice emphasis: (1) Climate Change and Decarbonization; (2) Corporate Governance and Regulatory Risk; (3) Sustainable Business and Projects; (4) Green Energy Financing and Infrastructure; (5) Project Development; (6) Land Use and Environmental; (7) Clean Technology; (8) ESG Marketing and Consumer Communications; (9) Business and Human Rights; and (10) Equitable and Healthy Workplaces.
The team is led by San Francisco partner Neil Popović, with more than 40 lawyers across the firm’s 15 offices representing a host of disciplines to help clients navigate ESG and sustainability challenges and opportunities. For more information, visit the ESG web page.
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